Biogas in Dhanawas

Dhanawas village is about 50 km Southwest of Delhi.  The village 

situated in the Farrukhnagar block, is about 15 km from the 

district headquarters Gurgaon, in the State of Haryana.  There 

are about 181 households with a total population of 1056.  Tata 

Energy Research Institute (TERI) has been working in the village 

since 1984 and a number of technology interventions including 

biogas, improved chulhas, solar lanterns, solar street lights, 

biomass gasifier, biomass briquettes, etc.  have been attempted. 

Among all the interventions made in the village, biogas plant 

has emerged as a most successful and infact, a competing 

technology to LPG (growth of biogas plant was twice than that of 

LPG during the last decade). 

Time saving is the factor which scored highest and from the 

feedback it was found that, the time saved by the use of biogas 

for cooking, was spent in attending to other domestic chores or 

in relaxation. 

The second ranking of institutional issues 

reflected the confidence the people had with the implementing 

agency.  This confidence may be due to their observation of the 

implementing agency on other activities or functionality of 

installed biogas plants.  

Smoke removal was perceived as one 

important benefit ranked third which besides resulting in 

improved health, reduced the cleaning of walls and whitewashing 

them.  

Since, the biogas meet some large parts of the cooking in 

the households, use of biomass fuels including dung cake has 

reduced, though, not eliminated completely.  Thus, it has become 

possible to divert a large proportion of dung as fertilizer in 

the fields.  This alternate use of dung as fertilizer ranked 

fourth among the factors. 

The fifth ranking factor was a group 

of other reasons where convenience of operation of biogas plants 

over types of stoves and less or no maintenance problem along 

with its relatively safer operation was acknowledged by the 

users. 

Fuel saving that the researchers, policy makers, and 

implementing agencies have paid maximum attention, did not score 

well and ranked sixth according to the users.

The biogas light generally used as a standby in case of power failure is another perceived benefit by the villagers and as ranked seventh.  

The subsidy involved, by the government (33%) and an additional 

subsidy by TERI (another 33%) was identified as eighth important 

factor, showing that it was not a limiting criterion.  Less 

effort in cleaning the vessels and kitchen and the plant as a 

status symbol scored last in the ranking of factors.